Along rivers and canals in Tay Ninh province, many ferry terminals still pick up and drop off passengers every day. Among them, there are ferries carrying dozens of students to school, but waterway safety regulations seem not to be given due attention.
According to records on September 14th at the Vam Co Tay, Vam Co Dong, Duong Van Duong Canal... river routes, ferry terminals are operating bustlingly, serving thousands of passengers crossing the river every day for travel, shopping, and living needs.
At a ferry terminal on the Duong Van Duong canal route, along National Highway 62, near Km38+500 in Thanh Hoa commune, Tay Ninh province, at 10:55 am on September 14, when the children were leaving school, the ferry took about 20 students from Thuy Tay Secondary School across the river. What is worrying is that in this ferry trip, from the driver to passengers, almost no one wore life jackets, even though this type of jacket was equipped on the ferry.
A student said that he often goes through the ferry to get to school. However, wearing life jackets is almost not implemented and no one reminds students to use them.
Not only is there a lack of life jackets, images on the ferry also show potentially dangerous behaviors. The ferry driver is wearing a shirt to control the vehicle; some students sit on the iron bars of the railing, some students stand in front of the ferry. Meanwhile, many ships and boats still pass through the river route.
Notably, at this time the floodwaters are rising, the water at the headwaters flowing into the Dong Thap Muoi area is very large and the water level is increasing day by day. Boats are still operating in those conditions, making the risk of waterway traffic accidents always present.
Discussing this issue, Mr. Pham Nhat Truong - Chairman of Thanh Hoa Commune People's Committee, Tay Ninh province said that the locality regularly strengthens inspections and is continuing to review all ferry terminals bringing passengers across rivers in the area to have handling measures if there are violations. "At the same time, directing immediate reminders to departments to inspect and handle immediately when reflected," Mr. Truong affirmed.
